How Major U.S. Industries Break Down by Race and Sex

Diversity has taken center stage in the technology industry recently, as companies like Facebook, Google and Yahoo release reports showing that only small percentages of of their work forces are women and people of color.

The demographics of major U.S. industries compared to the population at large show many sectors still are segregated by sex and race, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. For example, the only industry in which women are overrepresented is education and health, a sector long-considered the province of women. Blacks are underrepresented in most sectors besides public administration and transportation and utilities, which are often publicly financed. Hiring practices for the government are more closely monitored and there is less room for subjective discretion.

Discrimination isn’t the only factor that contributes to employment segregation. Cultural mores, personal preference, historical connections, geographic location, as well as experience and educational background all play a role. But even when controlling for differences in education, segregation still persists, according to Valerie Rawlston Wilson, director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. This segregation can trickle down to wages for jobs that are divided by demographics, she said.

“It’s not necessarily because these jobs are less valuable or less important or require less skill, but historically what that has meant is those occupations where we find women and minorities are those where people are paid less,” Ms. Wilson said. “It’s almost as if who’s doing the job determines how much that job is valued in terms of pay.”

It’s important to keep in mind that these employment sectors are huge categories. Within each, there are high-payed managerial positions and low-wage work—say a foreman at a construction site versus a day laborer there—so pay disparity is likely to be more pronounced when one looks deeper within an industry.

“If you’re in an industry with upward wage trajectory, if you hang around and get skills and contacts, you can make substantially more than someone who just showed up,” said John Schmitt, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a left-leaning Washington think tank. “You can’t move up much in fast food or leisure and hospitality, except for management and there are very few managerial positions relative to [lower wage] positions.”

Click here or any of the images for a general overview of the sex and racial composition of major industries: “mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction,” construction, manufacturing, “wholesale and retail trade,” “transportation and utilities,” information, “financial activities,” “professional and business services,” “education and health services,” “leisure and hospitality,” “other services,” and public administration.

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